Portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., can include a multitude of applications. Through these applications, a user can perform many functions on the device. The user interacts with these applications via the user interfaces of the applications. The user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or behaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features or tools. The user interface, therefore, is an integral part in the design of these applications and helps determine the ease of use, and thus the quality of the overall user experience, of such devices.
One challenge in the design of user interfaces for applications in portable devices involves navigation within an application. Applications in conventional devices often do not provide sensory feedback to the user regarding which contexts of the application the user has recently used. Furthermore, whenever a user backtracks through the contexts of an application, the application often does not remind the user of the context to which he or she is backtracking. This lack of sensory feedback can be frustrating for a user who gets lost in the menu structure of an application and wishes to know where he or she is in the application.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for navigating within an application in a portable electronic device.